clearing out the clutter once more

Right now, author and financial guru Suze Orman is everywhere. As someone who has lived most of her life in money denial, I was not anxious to hear this woman's message. It just hit a bit too close to home. However, one day she was on PBS and I was in someone else's home and couldn't change the channel - and she did it. She said something that got me hooked.

She was talking about contribution and tithing. I am a BIG believer in tithing with not only money, but also time. In her interview she used her clenched hand as an example - she said that if you have your hand clenched trying to hold on to what you already have, it isn't open to accept anything else. I knew that she, in that simple example had connected with him and explained in one simple example what I had not been able to make him understand in three years of discussions. I also knew that I had to listen to what this woman had to say.

Like millions of other people, I began to read The Courage to be Rich: Creating a Lifeof Material and Spiritual Abundance As a graduate of the Simple Abundance school of thought, I understand simplify. Suze Orman, however, takes the principal beyond the work of Sarah Ban Breathnach.

One of the first things she tells you to do is to start going through and getting rid of excess in your life. This book is about respecting money - and is far more spiritual than financial. The book explains that clearing away the clutter is about more than simplicity, it is "clearing the way" for money to flow into your life. ("Money is attracted to people who are strong and powerful, respectful of it, and open to receiving it")

Okay, so that makes sense to me - and I have really begun to live this. But here is what I have learned This getting rid of clutter thing is not a one-shot thing. Okay, maybe you are thinking "well, duh, Tera" - but I had just not evolved to that place. You see, each time I had to do this I felt like I had taken big steps back, and had to do it AGAIN because I'd let things go. That is not the way to look at it. Clearing away clutter is part of the process of living. As things outgrow their usefulness or interest, the automatically pile up. Just like you're supposed to get your hair trimmed every six weeks, you've got to keep clearing things away as you no longer need or want them. File away papers, take books to the library, go through the medicine cabinet - you have to keep at it. Clean out your closet four times a year, not just once.

Just like opening your fist so that things can both come in and come out, we have to clear away and reevaluate the things in our lives on a regular basis. I used to be a "hoarder", without really realizing it. Now I trust myself that I can let go of things because if I need something like that in the future, I will be able to afford it, or it will be provided for me.

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